OptX Eliminate World Champs, clinch Playoff Spot...No, Really!

Well, this time there's no doubt about it. With the slimmest of possibilities, the Chicago Chimera had the chance to knock out the San Francisco OptX. At the very least, a victory would give them the final playoff spot and keep the Carolina Core from another playoff run. They didn't achieve either, as the OptX stepped up to defeat them 23-19. With that victory, San Francisco is assured the third seed in the playoffs, where they will face the Dallas Venom. But let's get into this amazing match!

SAN FRANCISCO OPTX vs. CHICAGO CHIMERA

The first match was Dead or Alive Male, with NinjaCW (as Gen Fu) playing Black Mamba (playing as Helena), on the map Crash Club. Black Mamba quickly won the first two rounds, but Ninja answered back with three of his own, making the score 3-2 in favor of San Francisco. Ninja played a good, solid game, but Black Mamba played a better game, punishing nearly every whiff and taking advantage of the electrified walls and floor, as he easily stifled the Optx rookie to win the last three rounds to make the score 5-3, starting the game off well for Chicago.

Moving to Fifa, it was #1 ranked Chimera rookie eafra, playing as Brazil, taking on #2 ranked Optx veteran stermy^ playing as France. The action was quick, as eafra maintained constant pressure on stermy^'s defenses. When stermy^ did get the ball deep into eafra's side of the field, he had the bad luck of just missing some very close shots, including one that had even the CGS crew jumping in anticipation. And like his match with Carolina's Anomaly, stermy^ took a scoreless tie with eafra straight to penalty kicks, where he stopped the first two eafra shots on goal while putting one of his own in. Eafra would score on his third attempt, tying the game, but in the fourth set of kicks, stermy^ would put the rookie away for good with a goal, making it a 2-1 final, and bringing Optx to within one point, 6-5.

The third match would be Forza 2, with SACKAMONJARO and Miximup taking on Ch0mpr and Jason-X on the track Diamondback, with the Optx starting 1st and 3rd in the grid. As the virtual flag dropped, Jason-X would get out to an early lead with SACKAMONJARO in second, Ch0mpr in third, and Miximup in fourth. It would remain that way for the majority of the race, until Sack attempted to take the lead from Ch0mpr, smacking into the wall and making the fight for first into a tighter race for the second and third positions. And on the final lap, Sack would nudge Ch0mpr out to the grass and fence, allowing Miximup to get by and take second while he took third. The final score would be 4-3 in favor of Chicago, the running order being Jason-X, Miximup, Sack and Ch0mpr. With two matches left, Chicago had a slim 10-8 lead.

It was the ladies turn, as Vanessa, looking to end the regular season 11-1, took on Kasumi, who looked to be the second Dead or Alive female to shock the OptX superstar and extend Chicago's lead heading into CSS. Kasumi played as her namesake, while Vanessa returned to old mainstay Hitomi, on the map Temple on the Mountain. Kasumi played a close, very sound game against Vanessa, every round going right to the end. After Vanessa grabbed the first round, Kasumi quickly came back with one of her own, and looked to have the third round in the bag when she sent Vanessa down the stairway twice. Vanessa would come back to win that round, and then a third in similar fashion. After that, it was relatively smooth sailing for the #1 DoA Female, as she would clinch the final two rounds to pick up a big 5-1 score for Optx, who saw their 2-point deficit become a 2-point lead, 13-11, with only one game left: Counter-Strike: Source.

The last time Chicago and San Francisco played, the OptX carried a 5-point lead into CSS, where they proceeded to lose 14-4, including a 9-0 shutout in the second half, letting the game, and the franchise match, slip through their fingers. Now they were tasked again with protecting a San Fran lead, as the last game. Chicago was still in it, as a minimum 11-7 victory would give them a huge come-from-behind victory. The map was Season, and San Francisco started off on the Counter-Terrorist side. Chicago started out strong, behind the great play of Stevenson, who had 10 frags before 5 rounds had been played, as well as rookie hahN, who was able to help Chicago clutch their way to an early 5-3 lead. The OptX would come roaring back to take the last round, making the half score 5-4, and reducing San Francisco's lead to 1, 17-16. Then they switched sides for the second half, and San Francisco started off with an early two rounds before Chicago got on the board. San Francisco would get another two rounds, backed by their protected players clowN and moE, including an amazing round clutch by clowN against 4 Chicago players. San Francisco would extend their lead to 9-6, giving them the franchise match, and pushing Chicago's CSS Squad to the brink. Chicago would win their next two rounds to make the score 9-8, including a great Deagle save where Lari would end the round by 1-shotting two Optx players, but in the final round, San Francisco would clinch their much needed 10th round, winning the game 10-8, and giving their franchise an overall 23-19 victory, clinching the third seed while enabling Carolina Core (4-8) to “back door” their way to the fourth seed after losing to the Dallas Venom earlier today.

The playoff brackets are set. Tune in this Wednesday, as Carolina takes on #1 ranked 3DNY (10-2), and your San Francisco Optx battle the Venom for a place in the Region 1 Finals, as well as the opportunity to represent North America at the 2008 CGS World Finals. Stay tuned to #optx on the Gamesurge IRC network, as well as the official San Francisco Optx site, and the Optx groups on Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, the Steam Community, and Youtube, for the latest in Optx news, features, and scores! And tune in LIVE on Wednesday, July 2nd, as San Francisco takes on the Dallas Venom, in the CGS North American Playoffs! Happy fragging, and GO OPTX!